That Passerby Boy
by Sylibane Eclypse
Summary: Did I ask to be abandoned by my dad? No. Did I ask to wind up with the world's most annoying Pokemon? No. Did I ask to be beaten by the same cross-dressing bleeding-heart over and over? Well, sorta… T for violence and some swearing.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This fanfic is about a certain, redhaired rival…

The goal of this is to write him as in-character as possible. And by that I mean he's a complete and total jerkface

Warning: a bit of PreciousMetalShipping, but not quite in the usual way. Also contains a bit of a ship that currently goes unnamed…I think you'll figure it out after a couple chapters

I am not Nintendo, and I did not create Silver.

T for minor swearing and violence. And jerkfaceness.

Please R&R

Another warning: you probably shouldn't read this if you absolutely love, love, love Lyra, because I don't

_New Bark Town._

Pushing the branches out of the way, I stared at the tiny town. I'd been searching all day for it, and I still wasn't very impressed. Why would a professor choose such a plain, unattractive place to live in? There wasn't even a Pokémon Center! The only thing special about it was the windmills.

I stepped out of the trees, running my fingers through my long, dark red hair, which was dirty and matted with leaves. My clothes were ragged from spending two – or was it even three? – years, doing my best to avoid trainers, fighting wild Pokémon merely to stay alive.

I was sick of it. Sick and tired.

It was easy to spot the lab; all the other buildings were houses, framed by windmills. Other than the water route, there was only one way out of this town. If I remembered correctly from the maps I'd seen not-so-recently, the road led to Cherrygrove City.

Very carefully, I crept towards the lab. My plan was to camp outside the lab until a little after midnight, sneak in, and rob it.

I stopped and peered in through the lab's window. Assistants dashed around, as if something important was going to happen.

_Probably just another, stupid, weakling new trainer, coming for a starter that's too good for them, _I thought moodily, leaning against the side of the building. _I, on the other hand…but no. I'm not 'pure' enough; they'd send me away and give it to a weakling!_

"So this is the famous Professor Elm lab…" I murmured to myself. _Pretty lame, huh, _I added silently.

"Who are you?"

I whipped around. A boy was staring at me. No, wait – it was a girl, but she was dressed like a boy, as if she wanted people to think she was one.

"What are you looking at?" I snapped at him – I mean her. I grabbed her by the back of her sweatshirt, dragged her several steps, and fiercely kicked her away. Most kids would run off if that happened to them, but she glared at me defiantly before marching off into the lab. I winced, afraid that she would blab on me, and that would blow my cover. Oh, if she did…I'd feed her to a Nidoking. Or something else. No, not a Nidoking; those bring back bad memories. By association, I hate Nidokings.

The girl went up to talk to the professor, a disorganized, confused-seeming guy. I scoffed; how'd he manage to become Johto's precious professor? Lame! They're probably just as dependant on Professor Oak as Kanto is.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I pressed my face to the thick glass of the window. The professor led the girl to a machine with three Poké balls. He whispered in her ear, and she nodded solemnly. She seemed to be thinking for a moment before choosing one of the Poké balls.

_Of course! Those are the starters. She probably took the best one…well, darn. These better be as good as the Kanto starters though, so hopefully it won't matter too much. Though she's just another weakling, so she probably chose the cutest. Hah!_

The professor smiled uneasily and hustled her to his desk. He gestured at the computer and murmured something. She shrugged, nodded and left. When she passed me, she stuck her tongue out at me. I glowered at her retreating back, wanting to punch her in her stupid face.

I sighed and glanced at the sky. It would be a while before I planned to strike the lab. I was itching with impatience to get in there, grab my rightful starter, and get the heck out of dodge.

"Hey! Who are you?"

_Not another stupid kid, _I thought angrily, wheeling around to see a small, brown-haired girl with a large, ugly white hat and ridiculously short overalls. A Marill ran up to me and hopped up and down, squeaking happily. I wanted to punt the stupid thing across town.

"Um, have you seen my friend?" she asked politely.

"Does your friend cross-dress?" I snapped, itching to kick that stupid Water-type, which was running in circles around me, to Kanto.

"Uh…not that I know of! She's got dark hair, and she was heading for the lab earlier…hey, are you here to get a Pokémon?" she looked me over. "You don't look like a trainer; you don't have a Pokémon following you."

"Yeah, like that defines a trainer," I muttered. "Listen, kid, I'm tired. Buzz off!"

I slumped against the side of the building and closed my eyes. Something prodded me; it was the Marill, who looked at me with sad-Pikachu eyes.

"He wants to play with you," the girl explained pleasantly. "You can, of course, he's really sweet."

"Shoo!" I growled at it, swatting my hand at it. "Hey, kid, is that yours?"

The girl looked bewildered. "Who are you?" she asked nervously, like she couldn't believe that someone could be so mean. Welcome to the real world, kid.

"None of your business!" I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled my jacket closer around me. "Shoo! Buzz off!"

I heard the grass crunch as the girl ran off, followed by her Marill.

I drifted off into an uneasy sleep, sometimes flickering in and out of consciousness. Luckily, no one disturbed me, but I still felt tired when I finally became too restless to sleep. As usual, I hated my dreams – a voice screaming at me about how horrible I am. About how much I am like _him._

I stood, brushed myself off, and glanced through the lab's window at a digital clock – a little after midnight.

_Perfect, _I thought, creeping towards the door. I pressed against it; much to my surprise, it was unlocked.

_I better not blow it, _I reminded myself, creeping through the darkened lab. _They'll lock it up after tonight!_

It was hard to locate everything in the darkness, so I pulled out my tiny flashlight and switched it on. Its light caught the edge of something shiny and silvery; I moved over to examine it.

Sitting on the table was a brand-new silvery-grey Pokédex. In the darkness, I smiled softly. _A Dex, huh? That'll go nicely with my starter. So nice of them to 'give' it to me, ha ha…_

I grabbed the Dex and tucked it in my jacket before creeping towards the machine holding the Poké balls. As I approached, my foot brushed something large and furry. There was a low growl in the darkness.

I whipped the flashlight towards the sound of a noise to shine it straight in the eyes of an annoyed Arcanine. The moment it saw me, it started barking like all get out.

_Damn! _I thought, darting between its massive paws. I grabbed the first Poké ball on the machine, jammed it into my jacket and ran for the door, the Arcanine snapping at my heels; for good measure, I aimed a kick at its stupid face.

I managed to get out of the lab and slam the door in its face before running for the exit to the next route like all I was worth. I glanced at the upper level of the lab, where the professor lives; the lights were on.

I wanted to camp out on the roadside, but I reminded myself that that's where they would look first. Whenever I entered a patch of grass, I tried to calm myself down, because wild Pokémon are more likely to attack if you're running or stressed out, but my heart was thumping so hard I thought my chest would burst. Whenever a wild Pokémon appeared, I didn't even bother sending out my newly-stolen starter; I just ran.

_Run, run, _an unpleasant voice hissed inside my head. _Run and steal, that's all you can do. You're a coward, Silver, a coward just like – _

I gritted my teeth and pushed the voice away. I hate that voice.

By now, the simple skyline of Cherrygrove City was visible in the darkness. I found a nice tree and curled up underneath it, looking to all the world like just another trainer camping on the route.

I could've kept going, but I didn't plan to. I was going to wait, until a certain someone came along, and I was going to establishexactly _which _of us was the strongest.


	2. Chapter 2

So…chapter 2…

Feel free to review on whatever you feel like. Even if it is flaming. My only request is no swearing.

I didn't get very much rest, but that didn't bother me. I figured that, once I'd beaten that creepy cross-dresser, I could find somewhere nice and quiet to rest until nightfall came again.

I stood, stretched, and brushed myself off. By now, the other trainers on the route were up and about, so I did my best to keep my head down. No use burning myself out on wimps.

I snuck in to Cherrygrove City, glancing around nervously. Even though trainers don't generally fight each other in cities, the Elm lab might've alerted the police by now, and that's the last thing I need.

"Hello, there!" a gruff but cheerful voice called.

I must've been pretty freaked out, because I jumped about half a foot in the air before whipping around, starter's Poké ball in hand. It was just a friendly-looking old man in running shoes.

"Hello, there!" he repeated cheerfully. "You're wise to come through here! You look like a new trainer, just like that other boy."

I started. "The other boy?" I hissed, tucking my starter back in my jacket. "Dark-haired? Wearing a hat like an ultra ball and a red sweatshirt? Kinda feminine looking?"

"Well, yes, of course!" the man chuckled softly. "His name was Gold, I believe, if that was any help."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Look, where is he?"

"Well, I believe he was heading up the road to Cherrygrove City on an errand. He must be your friend, I see, you're both about the same age, and you both seem to be inexperienced trainers. I gave him a tour around here. Shall I offer the same to you?"

"I'm not a noob," I shot back.

The man's smile dimmed slightly. "Oh, but if you keep up with me, I might have a pair of Running Shoes in for you!"

"My shoes are fine," I muttered, glancing at my boots. They were dirty and scuffed, but they could be worse.

"My, you're a willful child," the man chided. "Have it your way, then. But if you ever change your mind, Guide Gent will be happy to give you a tour!"

I rolled my eyes and headed back out of town to wait. To kill time, I took out the stolen Dex and switched it on.

HELLO. PLEASE ENTER YOUR NAME BELOW.

I frowned. It was bad enough my trainer card had my name on it; the last thing I needed was a rare object showing off who'd stolen it.

An idea struck me; I knew the girl's name – Gold. What if I put _her _name in there and got _her _in trouble for my theft? Perfect!

"Look, guys, but I really have to go-"

Startled, I glanced up. The girl was talking to a couple of kids. She was followed by a blue, reptilian Pokémon that was pretty far from cute (which struck me as odd). I didn't recognize it; it was probably something you can only find in Johto, and I'm Kantoan.

"Aw, come on," one of the kids teased. "Ya afraid to battle through us?"

The girl scowled in a pretty boyish manner. "Look, I just got a call and it's urgent. Shoo."

She pushed past them. I tucked the stolen Dex in my jacket, got to my feet and stood in her way. Her eyes flared.

"Oh for the love of legendaries – alright," she snapped, "What do you want? If you're going to kick me again, I'm leaving."

I smirked. "You think you're pretty cool, huh, just because you've got one of those Pokémon from the lab."

"What are you leading at?" she demanded.

"Because _I _have one of those cool Pokémon," I gloated, relishing the feeling, "And _yours_ is too good for you."

She clenched her fist. "Do you wanna go?"

Smiling coldly, I looked straight into her piercing black eyes. She wasn't afraid of me at all. "Yes. Yes I do."

She folded her arms and bit her lip. "Alright then, you freak. You're going to _lose_. Cezario, attack."

The blue Pokémon stepped forward, eyeing me warily. I fished my stolen starter out of my jacket and threw it to the ground. It bounced back to my hand as the energy flowing through it formed into a small, light green Pokémon with a leaf growing out of its head. I thought it looked stupid.

_That's kinda disappointing, _I thought moodily.

Gold almost collapsed from laughter.

"You have a _Chikorita? _Chikoritas are lame! Boy, I was _almost_ scared that you were gonna send a Cyndaquil out, but…Chikorita? _Chikorita_? You _noob_!"

"Oh, shut up," I growled, my face turning the color of my hair. To 'Chikorita', I snapped, "I don't know what you know, but I know you know a move that'll drop that thing's stats. You get me? Use it!"

The Pokémon growled not-so-menacingly at the girl's starter, who raked his claws across its back. It squealed and looked at me for instructions.

"Just attack it," I snapped. How dumb is this thing? I glanced at the girl; she had a sort of malicious grin on her face, like she was _enjoying _this. I'll be honest – it freaked me out. This was not going according to plan.

Chikorita (or whatever it's called) struck out at the other Pokémon, whose tiny claws slashed at its chest, drawing pricks of sap-like blood – a critical hit. As the presumably-Grass-type collapsed to the ground, it lunged towards me, teeth bared. Alarmed, I instinctively dropped the Poké ball, which it grabbed in its jaws. I aimed a kick at it, causing it to let go of the Poké ball, which I grabbed; one look at the teeth marks on it told me I wouldn't be recalling Chikorita anytime soon.

"Apparently yours is too good for you," she taunted. "Then again, I don't think a _Chikorita-"_ she scoffed "-Is too good for anyone. Even _you._"

"Shut up, you," I growled, turning an even brighter shade of scarlet. "You only won because of luck, punk. I'll get you someday…"

I picked up the wounded creature, who moaned slightly, and headed back towards Cherrygrove City.

"_Silver?_"

I spun around, heart threatening to tear my chest apart. Much to my horror, she was holding my trainer card.

"Give that back!" I snarled, ripping it from her hand and pushing her away. "You're not one to talk, _Gold," _I added in a low growl.

"How do you-?"

My jaw clenched. "That's none of your business, you creep. Now run along back to your precious professor!"

She cocked her head, smiling mockingly at me. "Why is your last name markered out?"

I shoved her again, this time harder (or attempted to be harder; I was still holding 'Chikorita'), but she held her ground. "So punks like you don't see it. _Buzz – off_!"

I stormed off to Cherrygrove City, feeling like I was going to start on fire from anger and embarrassment. So much for my brilliant plan.

I didn't even dare head to the Pokémon Center, in case people had been alerted about my theft. Pokémon can recover on their own, given the right conditions. I found a relatively isolated bench and collapsed onto it, dropping the Pokémon next to me.

"Hey! What was that for?"

I glanced around, groaning, expecting to see some ten-year-old chewing me out for Pokémon abuse, but no one was there.

"Over here, silly!"

Baffled, I glanced at the Pokémon next to me.

"Finally!" the Pokémon snapped in a high-pitched, annoying voice that made her sound like either A) a little girl or B) a voice actress from the anime. "I don't know why it took you so long to figure out _I _was the one talking!"

"Because it's unnatural," I shot back. What the hey was going on? The only Pokémon I knew that could talk was – gah, I don't want to think about it.

"I don't think it's unnatural!" the creature replied haughtily. "And I suppose you think that a female starter is unnatural too?"

I stared at her incredulously. "You're _female?"_

"Of course!"

_ Just my luck, _I thought grumpily_. Females are weaker than males – and this one will probably talk my ears off. _And _I can't recall her…_

"Well?" the Chikorita continued. "You're my trainer now, mister grumpy-face! Aren't you going to name me?"

"Would you name a weapon?" I mumbled, staring at my shoes, letting my red hair fall into my face. No, I'm not emo, shut up.

"Ever heard of Excalibur?"

"Wha?"

"Excalibur! It's a magic sword! That's it! My name's Excalibur, but if that's too much of a mouthful, you can call me…Callie! That's it!"

"Who on _earth_ taught you to talk?" I demanded.

She puffed up her chest. "No one! I taught _myself_ to talk. You see, I'm from a lab, and that makes me an academic. Y'know, I bet you're just all mean and grumpy just because we lost. After all, Mr. Elm wouldn't give a starter like me to a meanie!"

I didn't tell her where I'd actually gotten her. She probably would scream and tell me to take her back and beat me up. This would really add more insult to already insult and injury.

Excalibur stretched out on the bench. "So you're Silver…and that boy with that nasty little Totodile is Gold. I remember that Totodile from the lab, and he's a meany-face."

"Gold's a girl," I muttered, pulling my jacket hood over my bright crimson hair before it blew my cover.

"Uh-huh, sure." Excalibur yawned. "I'm going to get some sleep. If it's sunny enough, I'll be better in no time and then, you and I are gonna have a blast!"

_"Ah-ha! It was you, wasn't it?"_

_ "What?"_

_ "We knew the culprit would return to the scene of the crime! It was you who took the-"_

_ "No! It wasn't him! It was that boy – the one with the red hair, I'm sure of it!"_

_ "Lyra's right. It wasn't my new assistant, I'm sure of it. Gold, have you seen the red-haired boy that was outside the lab?"_

_ "Yes…he had a Chikorita, but I managed to defeat him. He seemed like kind of a jerk."_

_ "Oh, no…and that Chikorita he took is so sweet and innocent…I was going to –"_

_ "Do you, by chance, know his name?"_

_ "Silver."_

_ "Silver…what?"_

_ "I don't know what his last name was. He'd crossed it out completely on his trainer card."_

_ "This is terrible, this is terrible, this is terrible, we _have_ to get that Chikorita back…"_

_ "Professor Elm?"_

_ "Yes?"_

_ "I have an idea."_

…that last little part was back in New Bark Town

REVIEW PLEASE


	3. Chapter 3

I'M BAAACK

Please read and review. Criticism is accepted, especially the constructive kind

Miraculously, no one bugged me during the day, counting Excalibur, so finally I got some decent rest.

I waited until the sun began to vanish behind the horizon. Excalibur stirred and shivered slightly. I nudged her with my hand.

"Wake up. It's getting dark."

"Nuhhhh…oh, hi Silver!" she jumped to her stubby feet. "Let's go!" she hopped off the bench and scampered around it. "Well? Ya comin'?"

I sighed and followed her as she sauntered down the avenue, wishing that I'd grabbed the Fire-type, or that Gold had taken this brat, or anything but this instead (except a Ground-type or something ϋber lame).

_You deserve this for what you did, you filthy coward, _the voice-in-my-head-that-I-hate spat.

_Shut UP! _I thought back, furious. _Why do you have to torment me?_

_ Because you deserve it, Silver, you coward, you thief._

"Well, we should go to Violet City first," the Chikorita declared, like she was the one in charge. "There's a gym there and – oh, drat! It's a Flying gym. Hey, let's train at the Sprout Tower first!"

"What's at the Sprout Tower?" I demanded as we entered the route.

"A bunch of monks with Bellsprouts and a few Hoothoots," Excalibur replied, preening herself with her leaf.

"Gee, that sounds like a great place for you to train," I pointed out sarcastically.

"Well, got any Poké balls?"

"No."

"We should fix that!" she sprinted back to me, grabbed my wrist with her leaf, and dragged me back into town to the Pokémart.

"Excalibur, this isn't a good idea," I growled, trying to unwrap her leaf. A red-haired boy with a Chikorita? I might as well have a flashing arrow above my head.

She ignored me and hauled me through the door and up to the counter, where a bemused clerk watched us.

Excalibur let go of me and hopped onto the counter. "Hi! I'm Excalibur, and this is Silver, my trainer! The professor gave me to him. We need some Poké balls."

The clerk laughed slightly. "Okay, then. You know what? I'll give you five Poké balls for free because your Chikorita's funny."

"Gee, thanks," I replied through gritted teeth.

"Hey, don't take it personality. I bet she's a lot of fun, really." He removed the Poké balls from under the counter, which Excalibur took. "Well, good luck…both of you."

"Thank you Mr. Seller Person!" Excalibur scooped up the Poké balls and dumped them in my jacket pocket. "C'mon, Mr. Grumpy-face! Let's go!"

"It was an accident that I ever wound up with her," I growled as she scampered towards the door.

"Hey, everyone feels that about their starter at first. Have fun with the talking flowersaur, kid."

_Why me? _I thought as I followed her back to the route leading north. _And don't start, voice-in-my-head. _"Well? Why'd we need those Poké balls?"

Excalibur puffed up her chest. "'Cuz we're gonna catch some new Pokémon! I'm a starter, but that doesn't mean just you and I can do all our fighting ourselves! I bet, with a balanced team, we'll be able to win everything! Yay! Oh, hey, look! A Ratatta! We should catch that."

"No," I replied bluntly. We have Ratattas in Kanto, and I know how much they suck. Catching it would be a waste of Poké balls.

Excalibur made a pouty face. "Oh? Why not?"

"Because that's my Ratatta!" an annoyed voice piped up. A ten-year-old with a backwards baseball cap emerged from the grass. "Hey, you wanna battle?"

I started to say no, I didn't have time for people like him, but Excalibur cut me off. "Why, of course! But we're gonna win!"

_We better win, _I thought, _we better not lose to a dumb purple rodent. _

"I might've lost to that other kid, but I can beat you! Go! Ratty!"

The Ratatta lunged forward, long white teeth bared. Excalibur lunged out and struck it with her leaf.

"Hey!" I shouted.

"What?" she shot back. "I can make decisions for myself, can't I?"

"Pokémon are supposed to obey their trainers." I closed my eyes, trying to reach back to my limited battle education without awakening those other memories. "Growl. There isn't much it can do at this point; make it harder to do anything!"

"Um, okie-dokie…grrrrrrrr!"

"Very menacing," I snipped sarcastically as the Ratatta continue to bang its head (literally) on the Chikorita.

"Hey, it worked! Now can I attack?"

I sighed, digging my hands into my pockets. "Fine. Knock yourself out."

"Okay! Yeeeeaaah!" She went as nuts as someone can go using Tackle. The Ratatta went down pretty quickly.

"Drat!" the kid grumbled, picking up the rat-thing. "That's the second time I lost today! First was to that Gold guy…hey, can we exchange PokéGear numbers?"

I stared at him blankly. "What?"

"Oh, sure!" Excalibur cut in. "Hey, Silvy, do you have a PokéGear?"

"A what?"

"I'm going to take that as a no," the kid smirked. "Where are you from, anyway?"

"Kanto," I replied angrily.

"Oh yeah? Where have you been for who-knows-how-long, a sardine can? They're pretty big in Kanto too!"

"Be quiet!" I shouted. Someone who has just lost a battle should not be taunting the victor like this.

"Silvy…" Excalibur spoke in an almost warning tone. "A PokéGear is a really cool thing! It's like a phone and a radio and a map all in one!"

"Wow, that sounds _so_ exciting," I replied sarcastically.

"But Silvy, everyone has one! Hey, we should go to Goldenrod City and see if we can get one! Okay, I'm adding that to our list of places we need to go?"

The kid rolled his eyes and wandered back towards Cherrygrove to heal his rat. I started towards him, wanting to punch him in the face.

"Silvy, where you going? Violet City's this way, silly!"

I whipped around about to yell at her not to call me 'Silvy' when a growl cut me off.

"Silvy, what was that?" Excalibur whimpered, ducking behind me. I looked over my shoulder only to see Professor Elm's Arcanine.

It didn't look very happy.

I didn't think twice – I turned, grabbed Excalibur and ran like all get out. I could hear it roar angrily as Excalibur wailed hysterically in my arms. She was terrified, and honestly, I couldn't blame her (I did wish she'd shut up, however; that screaming was getting a little out of hand).

I wish I could say that we easily outran the Arcanine enough to find a safe place to hide and shake it off, but I won't, BECAUSE THAT'S A RIDICULOUS LIE. It's an _Arcanine _for crying out loud.

The Fire-type sprung into the air and struck me on the shoulder, which really didn't feel good at all. Admittedly, if it had been trying to pin me down, it did not work; instead, it sent me sprawling to the ground about a foot away from it. It took a moment to notice this, so I did my best to scramble away. I lost my grip on Excalibur, but her leaf was wrapped so tightly around my arm that a) that didn't matter and b) my arm was starting to go numb.

Arcanine opened its jaws and shot a jet at flame straight at the ground near my feet. Considering how valuable Excalibur and the Dex are, it probably wasn't supposed to roast me and risk destroying them.

"Hey!" Excalibur shouted over my shoulder at the Arcanine. "Go away! GO AWAY!"

Confused, the Fire-type stopped in it's tracks.

"Bad boy! Shoo! Go away!" the plant-thing hollered at the top of her voice (which wasn't too loud, actually). "LEAVE US ALONE!"

Much to my surprise, the Arcanine whimpered and padded off, occasionally throwing nervous glances over its shoulder.

"There!" Excalibur panted, climbing off of me and dropping to the ground. "I dunno what _that _was for. Got any ideas?"  
"I robbed a laboratory," I replied, smirking. Hopefully this doesn't surprise you, but I honestly didn't feel any guilt whatsoever at the moment.

"Hee, you're funny," Excalibur chuckled, wandering up the route dreamily. "I'm adding that to my list of things I like about you."

"You're making a list?" I demanded, following her.

"'Course I am. You're smart, you have a cool sense of humor, you've got a mysterious aura around you, you can fight, and-" she turned her head to wink at me, "-_I _think you're handsome. You're that kind of guy _all _the girls would like."

You have no idea how much that last sentence freaked me out.

…I don't care what some of you authors think, but Silver strikes me as the guy who wants to stay _out _of a relationship. Being abandoned will do that to you.


End file.
